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"Cunning Librarians" Save Muslim Library

Kelly writes "The year was 1258. Mongol leader Hulegu Khan had invaded Baghdad — a city that was then a pinnacle of civilization and learning. Legend has it that the attackers set their sights on Baghdad's crown jewel, the Dar al-Hikma library, tossing thousands of manuscripts to a watery doom in the Tigris River. Fortunately, cunning librarians spirited to safety the precious Noor Stones: 99 gems containing the library's ancient wisdom. The stones remained hidden in the Muslim kingdom of Granada until 1492, when King Ferdinand's Spanish army destroyed the mosque housing the gems. The Noor Stones were scattered around the globe, lost for centuries. Sound melodramatic? Kind of like the plot of a comic book? It is. Story continues here: http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0425/p13s01-algn.htm l"

Comments

Sigh. I wish the Arabs would revere their libraries more. The Hamas destroyed an Al-Fatah university, including their library, and the al-Fatah destroyed a pro-Hammas university, including their library. Targeting each other's libraries in warfare is an old custom, and it seeks to destroy the history and culture of people you hate.
More books are translated from other languages into Spanish each year, than have been translated into Arabic from other languages since the 9th century. If there is any society that needs more libraries, it is Arabic societies.
I appreciate the fantast in the comic books. I just wish more adult Arabs revered libraries as the comic book indicates they should.